Genetic structure of the first brood of workers and mating frequency of queens in a Japanese paper wasp, Polistes chinensis antennalis

Abstract

Genotypes of a queen and the first brood of workers of 20 colonies of Polistes chinensis antennalis were electrophoretically analyzed. We found allelic polymorphisms in two loci which encodes two enzyme, i.e., creatine kinase (CK) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). The genotype array of the first brood of workers in five colonies could not be explained by monoandry of the queen. Two to four suggested multiple mating of the queen, and one to three suggested replacement of the queen. Although multiple matings of some queens is apparent, the mean estimate of relatedness of the first brood of workers from the genotype frequency data, 0.648, is ambiguous, because it is not significantly different from 0.75 (one singly-mated queen) nor 0.545 (one doubly-mated queen).